Del Potro: Threat in Grass

B

Boricua

Hall of Fame
Some days ago I said that Juan Martin Del Potro would be a threat in Wimbledon and would challenge Nadal. Some took it as a joke as Del Potro had not performed to well in grass in past tournaments.
Well, four tight sets and at the end Nadal won.
Maybe this performance by Del Potro will change some peoples opinions of his game in this surface.
 
I didn't think the big man could threaten on grass - I was wrong. The difference in his movement between Queen's and SW19 was dramatic. Well done to the big guy.
 
BULLZ1LLA said:
(When certain members of the media at ESPN especially first heard about the foot incident, they probably were like "YES this is going to be a great story, Federer winning Wimbledon!" because ever since the Roland Garros Final there has been constant Federer hype, triggered by sympathy mainly. Then suddenly ESPN's dream is dashed by Rafa's negative MRI result, and they feel like they've been ROBBED! I understand the emotions they must be feeling :lol:)
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hey clueless, firstly get outta your rafa shrine and try to learn to read .... this thread is not about federer or rafa's 'injury', but about delpo and his play on grass. Weren't you on about how rafa would crush delpo in straights ?

I guess you are just too thick-skinned or too thick-headed to let all that embarassment affect you !
 
abmk said:
hey clueless, firstly get outta your rafa shrine and try to learn to read .... this thread is not about federer or rafa's 'injury', but about delpo and his play on grass. Weren't you on about how rafa would crush delpo in straights ?

I guess you are just too thick-skinned or too thick-headed to let all that embarassment affect you !
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(I think you are in the wrong thread http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=386316&page=17 )
 
It should, it must. It should also force the people who called him completely one dimensional to reevaluate their opinions of him from this point forward. He showed some terrific touch. His volleying wasn't remarkable or anything, but over 50 times he came to the net, and his success ratio was pretty damn good. He has absolutely everything he needs to succeed on the grass, even if his giant forehand's sheer power is somewhat subdued by the surface.

To have been back so short a time and already be playing so well is damn scary, to have needed seeded players to eliminate him from all 3 slams so far this year, and never having gone down in straight sets is a terrific accomplishment for him, and we're only now coming to his favourite time of year. As he gets more and more big match time under his belt, more long match fitness, he's going to be a big threat, and if he shows the continued desire to improve on the single surface he has trouble on, then he's going to be pushing those top guys all the way in no time at all.
 
Boricua said:
Some days ago I said that Juan Martin Del Potro would be a threat in Wimbledon and would challenge Nadal. Some took it as a joke as Del Potro had not performed to well in grass in past tournaments.
Well, four tight sets and at the end Nadal won.
Maybe this performance by Del Potro will change some peoples opinions of his game in this surface.
Click to expand...

Yeah maybe but you have to take into consideration that Rafa was practically one-legged in this match, so I wouldn't proclaim Del Proto a threat on grass just yet.
 
MixieP said:
Yeah maybe but you have to take into consideration that Rafa was practically one-legged in this match, so I wouldn't proclaim Del Proto a threat on grass just yet.
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No he WAS one legged. I saw it myself. He landed badly on his leg and it came clean off. Not only that but Del Potro proceeded to use Rafa's leg as a racquet - we all know that there is a mystical power in Rafa's leg and that is the only reason Del Potro was hitting such good shots.

Then later on Del Potro was lucky that he fell over and actually landen on his hip hard - but, right on the pressure point that allows you to play better tennis.
 
Del Potro has improved his volleys and his comfort to grass over the injury period. Though he isn't a threat at grass yet. He had to fight off close matches with lower tiered players. Though his effort against Nadal showed....he is a threat to Nadal style of play.

If he does become a great threat on grass, it would very weird to see an Argentine win Wimbledon!
 
Del po is a very nice player! I hope his health does not hurt what could be a great career. His movement was suprising and so was his ability to hit Nadal off the court at times. He is almost back with the open to go he could make things interesting in New York.
 
Del Potro is awesome! I love that guy! I hope he wins Wimbledon one day. :)
 
BULLZ1LLA said:
(I think you are in the wrong thread http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=386316&page=17 )
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PCXL-Fan said:
LOL BULLZILLA

- Lying about the fact she posted in this thread
- I saw the post myself
- The post she link to was created 6 minutes after abmk's response. Abmk must have traveled to the future then back in time to make his response.
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LMAO !! Owned again - try again clueless nadal fanatic , BULLZILLA !

now lets know how nadal was going to dominate delpo and win in straights vs him :oops:
 
Watching him play Nadal last round and Simon the round before that he played pretty well but many of the problems he will always have on grass were in evidence. His movement on grass is really bad, he literally looks like a clumsy giraffe lurching around when he gets moved from side to side. It is amazing how vurnerable he seems to the slice, Rafa who doesnt even have that good of a slice was even able to use that effectively against him. And he doesnt seem comfortable bending down to balls in general.

If he gets back to his best he could win some future slams on hard courts or maybe even clay. He will never win Wimbledon however unless he gets the biggest cakedraw in history.
 
Del Potro is one of the top 5 players in the men's game by consensus, and he got to the final 16 in this tournament. What is impressive about this?? So called "comfort on grass" scarcely means anything any longer, since almost nobody has much experience on it. The fact that so many of the women's quarterfinalists are Eastern European and probably couldn't even afford grass on their lawns growing up is testimony to this.
 
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ollinger said:
What is impressive about this??
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-He lost to Nadal.
-Nadal is the Wimbledon champion (twice)
-Constantly injured since his US Open win in 2009 - we are in 2011
-He was on his worst surface and nearly beat Nadal. JMDP hasn't played since 09 where he early.



The only better comeback I've seen was Marat's back in 04. Where he had a long lay off and managed to beat Roddick at #1 in 5 sets, Agassi in 5, Blake in 4 and ran out of gas in the final against Federer. Think about it, JMDP was out for ages, and even when on the comeback trail this year he was still not 100%. It begs the question. Can he win the US Open this year???
 
ollinger said:
Del Potro is one of the top 5 players in the men's game by consensus, and he got to the final 16 in this tournament. What is impressive about this?? So called "comfort on grass" scarcely means anything any longer, since almost nobody has much experience on it. The fact that so many of the women's quarterfinalists are Eastern European and probably couldn't even afford grass on their lawns growing up is testimony to this.
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He almost beat nadal. Very close to the first set and even the 3rd was a tiebreak too. Murray who is always credited with good grasscourt skills has never taken a set off Nadal on grass.

He is a very big guy and movement was hard on grass.

He has never been past the 2nd round of Wimbledon before.

I seem to remember people being impressed with nadal suddenly improving on grass in 2006 and taking a set off Federer. No Delpo didn't make the final, but he had to play the reigning champ in round 4.

Most people said he couldn't play on grass.
 
ibbi said:
It should, it must. It should also force the people who called him completely one dimensional to reevaluate their opinions of him from this point forward. He showed some terrific touch. His volleying wasn't remarkable or anything, but over 50 times he came to the net, and his success ratio was pretty damn good. He has absolutely everything he needs to succeed on the grass, even if his giant forehand's sheer power is somewhat subdued by the surface.

To have been back so short a time and already be playing so well is damn scary, to have needed seeded players to eliminate him from all 3 slams so far this year, and never having gone down in straight sets is a terrific accomplishment for him, and we're only now coming to his favourite time of year. As he gets more and more big match time under his belt, more long match fitness, he's going to be a big threat, and if he shows the continued desire to improve on the single surface he has trouble on, then he's going to be pushing those top guys all the way in no time at all.
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Good post. As you've stated, he has the tools and the IQ to do very well on grass. IMO, it will always be an issue of wherther he feels completely comfortable with his movement and footing on grass.
 
Del Potro did not nearly beat Nadal. Losing in 4 sets with a 4th set that doesnt go the distance isnt nearly beating someone. Most of Federer's French Open finals with Nadal were as close as that, and I havent heard anyone say Federer has ever nearly beat Nadal at the French.
 
NadalAgassi said:
Del Potro did not nearly beat Nadal. Losing in 4 sets with a 4th set that doesnt go the distance isnt nearly beating someone. Most of Federer's French Open finals with Nadal were as close as that, and I havent heard anyone say Federer has ever nearly beat Nadal at the French.
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The first 2 Nadal won were tiebreaks and I believe Del Potro had a break point to serve for that first set. One point different and he'd have won the first 2 sets and a couple of points different in the 3rd set tiebreak and he could have won - especially if he'd taken a 2 set lead and nadal was under pressure.

Federer never lost 2 sets 7-6 in the French Open finals, one, yes, on two occaisons. Hence he nearly got it to a decider.
 
Towser83 said:
The first 2 Nadal won were tiebreaks and I believe Del Potro had a break point to serve for that first set. One point different and he'd have won the first 2 sets and a couple of points different in the 3rd set tiebreak and he could have won - especially if he'd taken a 2 set lead and nadal was under pressure.

Federer never lost 2 sets 7-6 in the French Open finals, one, yes, on two occaisons. Hence he nearly got it to a decider.
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7-6 in the 4th set tiebreak in the 2006 final was closer to losing than this match. :confused: And Federer was even up 6-1, 2-0 at one point. And in the 2005 semifinal Federer was up in the 4th set which Del Potro never was in this match.

You cant really just look at the # of tiebreak sets since if Del Potro had won the 1st set the whole course of the remaining parts match could be changed, possibly in Del Potro's favor more, or possibly in Nadal's. Personally I think Nadal would have been more driven and focused in the 2nd and 3rd sets in that case, but we will never know. Ultimately the conclusion of the match is what determines how close one was to winning IMO, and it was a 4 setter that didnt even go to an extended finish to the 4th set. To me anyway that is not even close to winning.
 
NadalAgassi said:
7-6 in the 4th set tiebreak in the 2006 final was closer to losing than this match. :confused: And Federer was even up 6-1, 2-0 at one point. And in the 2005 semifinal Federer was up in the 4th set which Del Potro never was in this match.

You cant really just look at the # of tiebreak sets since if Del Potro had won the 1st set the whole course of the remaining parts match could be changed, possibly in Del Potro's favor more, or possibly in Nadal's. Personally I think Nadal would have been more driven and focused in the 2nd and 3rd sets in that case, but we will never know. Ultimately the conclusion of the match is what determines how close one was to winning IMO, and it was a 4 setter that didnt even go to an extended finish to the 4th set. To me anyway that is not even close to winning.
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Federer could have won that 4th set tiebreak and taken it to 5, but the other sets he lost he lost clearly. Del Potro lost two sets very narrowly, so actually could have won first 3 sets. He was never even broken in the first 3.

How was Federer 6-1 2-0 up when he lost the second set 6-1?

Djokovic was close to winning the US Open 2007 final even though he lost it in straight sets, because he could have won both of the first 2 sets. It doesn't have to go all the way if you had chances in 2 or 3 sets to win.
 
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